Metamorphosis at the Belgrade Theatre
On January 25th the Drama A-Level students visited the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, to see a Frantic Assembly performance of Metamorphosis.
They had a wonderful time and said the performance was a most unexpected one. Following the story of Gregor Samsor, a broken man exhausted by eternal work and an ungrateful family, who wakes up one morning to find himself changed. To those around him, he is a dangerous, untouchable vermin and a burden. The story was fascinating to watch, and the abstract components of theatre design such as the moving set and the flashing images sucked us into the characters' mundane lives.
Frantic Assembly is just one of the practitioners that drama students study during their two-year course, so the opportunity to see live work of the practitioners' methods was a great way for drama students to experience and see the work of the practitioners being put into practice in a performance; from the style of acting, play structure to the staging, set, costume and lighting choices. Seeing this live performance was helpful for the students to gain inspiration and ideas they could use in all components of their A-Level; when devising when creating theatre, or to allow the students to gain knowledge of productions for stage, and even for the final exams when the students must use their knowledge of practitioners and theatre to answer questions from the perspective of a director and an audience member.
Going to watch a performance is helpful in so many ways for students. This trip was successful, and the students enjoyed going to the theatre together to watch a play they knew little about, each going in with an open mind and leaving with praises, critiques and ideas they still discuss in the classroom!
- Holly in Year 13